News

Annual Party

The Club’s annual party was held in the West Wing on Thursday January 1st.

A very big attendance enjoyed the social event of the year!

Club Chairman Enda Burke thanked everyone for attending and paid tribute to all the coaches and officials of the club. He made special mention of the parents who help out supervising, organizing, collecting money and driving children to and from training. He congratulated all the swimmers on their achievements during the year.

Male Swimmer of the Year: Ciarán Burke

Female Swimmer of the Year: Stephanie McLoughlin

Most Improved Swimmer: Derva O Reilly

Special Dedication Award: Emma Begley

The Club’s annual Confined Gala was held on Saturday Nov. 29th.

Pictured below are some of the young swimmers, many of whom were competing in a gala for the first time.

Senior Schools Interprovincial

Congratulations to our swimmers Jonathan Brinn, Ciáran Burke, David Gilhooley and Stephanie McLoughlin who were members of the Connacht Schools team which won the Senior Schools Interprovincial title on Monday May 5th in the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin.

Easter Training Camp

The annual Easter training camp was held in UL during the Easter holidays and the Club had a large number of swimmers and coaches in attendance.

Some of the younger members spotted Bressie in their hotel and he kindly posed with them for a picture.

Connacht Club of the Year

Tuam Swimming Club was honoured at the annual gala awards night hosted by Swim Ireland in the Strand Hotel Limerick in April. The Tuam club was selected as the Connacht Region Club of the Year in recognition of its outstanding contribution to the sport over many years.

Club Chairman, Enda Burke, accepted the award on behalf of the club at the function from Mr. Kieran Mulvey, Chairman of the Irish Sports Council. In the citation it was noted that Tuam Swimming Club is over sixty years old and has come a long way from its humble beginnings in the frigid swirling waters of the Clare river in the 1950s. It was also noted that the Club is now competing very successfully at national level and Swim Ireland recognised its medal tally in recent years at national events.

The fact that Tuam Swimming Club is one of the few Clubs in the country operating on a totally voluntary basis was also a significant factor in swaying the judging panel and it also noted the very active role of parents in supporting the activities of the club. The Club has a huge number of very enthusiastic younger members at the moment and is looking forward to further successes locally and nationally.

Chairman Enda Burke said he was delighted and honoured to accept the award on behalf of the club and he felt that it was a fitting reward for the huge efforts of everyone involved in the club.

John Kenny of RTE was MC at the awards ceremonies, which was also attended by Sarah Keane the CEO of Swim Ireland and Olympic swimmers Barry Murphy and Andrew Bree.

January 2014

Tuam Swimming Club continues to go from strength to strength as its senior competitive swimmers consistently turn in improved times at local and national galas. The Club is also catering for very large numbers of younger children, most of who competed in the Club’s annual confined gala in December, which was a resounding success.

The Swimmer of the Year awards were presented at the Club’s Christmas party where chairman Enda Burke paid fulsome tributes to the swimmers, coaches, officials and parents for their tremendous commitment and dedication during the past year. He said the Club continues to thrive in large part due to the voluntary efforts of coaches and officials who give of their time willingly to promote swimming in the Tuam area.

The Male Swimmer of the Year award for 2013 went to Ciarán Burke for his outstanding performances and commitment to training over the year. Ciaran returned from the Irish Division 1 Age Groups with a bag full of medals in a variety of events. His time of 57 seconds in the 100m freestyle was particularly noteworthy given that he is still only 13 and he knocked another second off this time at the Connacht Schools Gala recently. Ciaran showed his versatility when he took the silver medal in the gruelling 1500m freestyle event. Another highlight of the season was his qualification for the final on 200m backstroke at the British Age Groups. Ciaran was an impressive winner of the Henihan Cup for 100m backstroke at the Club’s gala recently. He has also been selected as part of the Connacht squad and the National squad.

The Female Swimmer of the Year was Michelle Gavin who was also commended for her dedication and commitment to training. Among the highlights of her season was her huge improvement in the 800m freestyle at the Division 1 finals where she achieved ten-second improvement on her previous personal best at this distance. Michelle was in great form at the Club’s gala making a clean sweep of the ladies trophies winning the Reilly, Flynn and Leufer cups in backstroke and freestyle.

The award for the Most Improved Swimmer went to 11 year old Uiseann Cooke who won gold at the Division Two 200m Breaststroke final and also took the silver medal in the 100m breaststroke in the same competition. He also qualified for Division 1 in the 100m breaststroke. Uiseann is a very talented young swimmer and much is expected of him in the coming years.

A special dedication award was presented to David Gilhooley in recognition of his commitment and improvement in times over the year. David, who is a native of Athenry, has shown outstanding improvement over a relatively short time in the club. His 100m freestyle time of 1:05 in the Division 2 heats meant that he couldn’t compete in the finals as his time was too fast – actually qualifying him for Division 1. He further improved on this time at the Connacht Schools gala recently knocking a further three seconds of his previous best.

Other Tuam swimmers who are making a big impression in galas are Sean Bennan, Olywyn Cooke, Saoirse Burke, Oisín O’Rourke and Uiseann Cooke all of whom are on the Junior Connacht Development Squad

Michelle Gavin and Emma Begley have been selected on the Connacht Development Squad.

Senior swimmer Jonathan Brinn has been performing very well and he was in great form at the Club’s own gala when he powered his way to victory in the coveted O Dea Cup 50m freestyle and the McEnnis Cup for 100m breaststroke. Jonathan is also training regularly with the Connacht squad.